01. Extra parts include a 105mm turned metal gun barrel

I've had a load of the AFV Club Centurions for quite a while now and have wanted an excuse to get started. The Boxing Day Build Club this year has given me the opportunity to get this 2006 release started - a bit late!

My choice of build for this time will be to use the upgraded 105mm gun barrel. I do have another of these and the 20pdr version will come later. Guess what I did?

IDF Armour is starting to become more popular with lots of new releases upcoming.

02. The Horstmann suspension has an A & B set so watch how you fit them

03. A unit (centre bogie) & B unit (front and rear bogies) - still some bits to add yet!

04. Made a start on the lower hull which is well molded and has a great fit to the parts

05. Very good casting detail on the drive sprocket transmission housing

06. The upper rear plate (C42) is not a perfect fit and there are no locating pins or marks

07. 3 turns of a small laggy band provides enough tension to ensure a correct fit

08. Fitting of the Deck and hull plates starting from Rear to Front

09. You should take care securing each part in turn for a precise, snug fit

At this point, I decided to allow the glue on the Hull construction to solidify properly and move on to another assembly: The Turret -
and the assembly follows 3 distinct sections:

• The Body including the Mantel
• The Gun
• The Mantel Cover

The elastic bands are to ensure the sides, bottom, top and cover are secure and do not move during the curing overnight. The Mantel cover was secured with SuperGlue.

AND YES! I fitted the 20pdr and not the 105mm as originally planned!!!

10. At only 8 pieces for the turret body construction some fettling was needed

 AND, the Lesson here is?
Read the instructions properly next time - Dummy!!!!

11. I removed all the locating pins from the turret sides and ensured a close fit

12. I applied part AC35008, Mantlet Cover type 'A' which is of a flexible plastic

13. Bands off and stowage bins attached - still a way to go yet though

14. Track Guards and stowage bins completed and tacked to the hull

15. It's actually looking like a Centurion Tank now!

16. Front brackets, lights and a slight bin location placement (Mk5 & Mk5/1)

17. Exhaust system ready (but not glued), track guards also attached now

18. Rear brackets, infantry phone and hauser mounting attached

19. Forward turret radio pot and smoke discharger attached

20. It's now 10:30pm on New Years Eve and I'm working on the turret

21. This transparency plastic is quite rubbery in feel but works well

22. Lots of ejector pin marks to fill on the hatches and track unfortunately

23. All cleaned up and its HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all for 2016 - I know Sad!!!

24. Commanders Cupola and turret fittings installed - nearly there now!

24. A boring shot I know but, the spare track is attached to the turret (not glued yet)

25. A test of all the built main body parts parts and ....... everything fits!

26. It'll look better once I start throwing some paint around

Summary so far:

• Stiff plastic if not slightly brittle
  
• A good fit and crisply moulded
  
• Too many visible ejector pin marks
  
• Recommended
  

Timeline: 15th February 2016
It's been a few days as other projects are running in tandem with this one and with the delay in getting to the spray booth and paints I apologise for the delay.

Airbrushes thoroughly cleaned and serviced and ready to go.

Time for some Paint!

27. A very straight forward undercoat of Vallejo Model Air Matt Black but this time I added about 10% Thinner by volume

28. Next day, I sprayed Vallejo Model Air Sand again thinned by about 20% to give a fine coating in preparation for the IDF Sand later

29. Top coat added of A.MIG 067 IDF SAND GREY '73 as used from the 6 Days War to the Yom Kippur War but a restrained covering

30. I'm trying to get a weather worn effect (the gun mantlet canvas has yet to be painted) and there are still parts to finish

31. I thought it best to get the markings on now. I shall build up towards completion after varnishing

32. Started the weathering process with Phase 1 - the Pin Wash ....... Oh Heck, let's cover the whole thing!

33. Comprising Vallejo Model Wash (2 parts 76.523 European Dust with 1 part 76.515 Light Grey)

34. Working in the mix to cover the vehicle it has, in places, got a bit dark. This is something I must remedy

35. The Turret and Rear Deck don't actually look that bad in this picture. Front Glacis needs work though

36. A bit of decoartive painting for the canvas. Vallejo Panzer Aces 314 Canvas with a spot of the vehicle colour AMMO IDF Sinai Grey 73

37. I decided to add Indy-Links to this build for a more realistic effect. AFV Club AF35102 Workable Links

38. The reason they look a bit wobbly is that I should do 108 links but I have only done 70. Once painted they will be glued

39. Why use up perfectly good Indy's when you can't see them. I have several sets so I can get approx 4 vehicles worth out of every 3 sets

Fortunately, I do have several Centurions still to build so all the unused track will be very welcome and a noticeable cost saving as they're around £12-£14 per set (last time I looked).

Still undecided about installing the main return rollers but the single Rollers (parts E2) have been added. I have 'hooked the loose end of track to each of them, this will be unseen once the bazooka plates are added). Tyres were added so as to get my track runs correct.

The Wheels were a bit of a pain and the rubberised tyres, whilst a good idea in principle, would have been better as solids - actually TAKOM nailed this in the Chieftains! The rubber tyres, well they have a tendancy to fall off but (fingers X) I applied some Tamiya Extra Thin and, well ?????? so-far, so-good!

The deal with the Tracks is pure economics (if you can't see it, don't use it) and was explained to me by Barry Hartley (Grievous) of British Bulldogs/IPMS Bolton and applied in the construction of my Churchill Mk.IV and more recently the TAKOM Chieftains.

40. Track Time at the factory. It took around an hour to assemble both tracks

41. I applied a matt black undercoat and allowed it to dry for around 30 minutes

42. After the black, I applied Model Air Steel using a brush and scrubbing in the paint

43. Using some heavy gauge tissue (IKEA type) i painted it a mix of Canvas & IDF Sinai Grey then coated it with some Future Polish

44. I then applied the decals in the usual way, and using Micro Set/Sol followed by a coat of Future and left it to dry

45. Cutting the decal/canvas to size, I coated the rear with a PVA/Water mix allowing it to soak in then, applied it to the turret

46. I have also applied a rusted effect to the exhausts using mixes from Vallejo Panzer Aces 301 Dark Rust, 302 Light Rust & 303 Yellowish Rust

47. I have modified the shiny steel tracks by mixing Steel, Black, Canvas, Light & Dark Rust into a thinned slurry and washing the tracks, wiping off where the peaks are

48. From my MIG care package comes a wash of A.MIG-1404 North Africa Dust Effects dried quickly using a hair dryer, followed by A.MIG-3012 Sand Pigment sealed with fixer

49. The dried effects of weathering Phase 2 on the front

50. A little more of the Dust Effect was needed on the turret but I think it works

51. The vehicle rear shows some effects but I think it needs 'just' a little bit more

52. More weathering with sand effect using MIG Powders around the roadwheels and the installation of the 2 aerials using Carbon Fibre Aerial set A094 by Accurate Armour

53. A very light rust effect (using MIG Powders) can be found on non-armour plate features especially, on the bazooka plates, track guards etc. Just the accessories left to fit now